The Boston Red Sox hope their platoon options will help maintain their surge against the Kansas City Royals.
Marwin Gonzalez and Michael Chavis return to the Red Sox starting lineup for Wednesday's tilt with the Royals, the third contest of the teams' four-game series at Fenway Park.
Gonzalez sat out Tuesday night's win over K.C., and Chavis appeared as a late substitute for Bobby Dalbec. Gonzalez starts at second base Wednesday and bats eighth, while Chavis is the first baseman and bats ninth.
The rest of the Red Sox infield is familiar: Shortstop Xander Bogaerts bats fourth, and third baseman Rafael Devers follows him in the fifth spot.
Kiké Hernández moves from second base to center field and continues to bat leadoff. Left fielder Alex Verdugo follows Hernández in the batting order. Right fielder Hunter Renfroe bats sixth.
J.D. Martinez is the designated hitter and bats third.
Christian Vázquez bats seventh. He'll catch for starting pitcher MartÃn Pérez, who struggled in his last outing.
Mike Minor starts on the mound for the Royals.
NESN will broadcast Red Sox-Royals, with pregame coverage starting at 6 p.m. ET. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m., and postgame coverage immediately will follow the final out. Remember, if you're not near a TV, you can live stream full coverage of the game online at Watch NESN Live.
Here are the lineups for Wednesday's Red Sox-Royals game.
Red Sox (49-31)
Kiké Hernández, CF
Alex Verdugo, LF
J.D. Martinez, DH
Xander Bogaerts, SS
Rafael Devers, 3B
Hunter Renfroe, RF
Christian Vázquez, C
Marwin Gonzalez, 2B
Michael Chavis, 1B
MartÃn Pérez, LHP (5-4, 4.09 ERA)
Royals (33-44)
Whit Merrifield, 2B
Jorge Soler, RF
Carlos Santana, 1B
Salvador Pérez, C
Hunter Dozier, 3B
Ryan O'Hearn, DH
Edward Olivares, LF
Michael A. Taylor, CF
Hanser Alberto, SS
Mike Minor, LHP (6-5, 5.12 ERA)
